Manchester City won their first UEFA Champions League trophy in 2023, after they beat Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul, Turkey.
Only one side has ever retained the Champions League in its era, but with some big players joining the club, can Man City become the second?
Let's look at their chances and the teams that will be hoping to stop them.
Champions League 2024 Odds?
Most of Europe's big hitters have qualified for the 2023/2024 Champions League. And now that the tournament is in full swing, it is clear that some teams are performing better than others.
So with the group games underway, who do the bookies think can lift the trophy at Wembley Stadium on June 1st 2024.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Man City | 2/1 |
| Bayern Munich | 4/1 |
| Real Madrid | 13/2 |
| Arsenal | 15/2 |
| Barcelona | 14/1 |
| PSG | 14/1 |
| Atletico Madrid | 20/1 |
| Inter Milan | 22/1 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 40/1 |
| Napoli | 40/1 |
| Newcastle | 40/1 |
| AC Milan | 50/1 |
| RB Leipzig | 66/1 |
| Man Utd | 80/1 |
| FC Porto | 80/1 |
| Real Sociedad | 80/1 |
| Lazio | 125/1 |
| Lens | 150/1 |
| Galatasaray | 200/1 |
| PSV Eindhoven | 200/1 |
| FC Shakhtar Donetsk | 400/1 |
| Sporting Braga | 400/1 |
| FC Kopenhagen | 750/1 |
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Champions League Pots
By the time the 2023/2024 Champions League started, eight pots, each with four teams, were created.
They are list as Groups A – H and at time of writing, with the games already underway, those who have qualified for the next stage have a ‘Q' beside their team name.
Group A
- Bayern Munich (Q)
- Copenhagen
- Galatasaray
- Manchester United
Group B
- Arsenal (Q)
- PSV Eindhoven (Q)
- Lens
- Sevilla
Group C
- Real Madrid (Q)
- Napoli
- Braga
- Union Berlin
Group D
- Real Sociedad (Q)
- Inter Milan (Q)
- Red Bull Salzburg
- Benfica
Group E
- Atlético Madrid (Q)
- Lazio (Q)
- Feyenoord (Q)
- Celtic
Group F
- Borussia Dortmund (Q)
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Newcastle United
- AC Milan
Group G
- Manchester City (Q)
- RB Leipzig (Q)
- Young Boys (Q)
- Red Star Belgrade
Group H
- Barcelona (Q)
- Porto
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Antwerp
Champions League Quarter Finals
By the time we get to the Quarter Finals we are well and truly into the knockout phase of the Champions League.
But first the teams have to get passed the Round of 16!
In the knockout phase, each team that has has progressed, plays against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis.
For the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners are seeded, and the eight group runners-up are unseeded.
The group winners teams are drawn against the runner-up teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg.
In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there are no seedings. Teams that originally started in the same group can be drawn against each other.
As the draws for both the quarter-finals and semi-finals are held together. This is to determine which semi-final winner is designated as the “home” team for the final.
As a side note, the ‘home team' is only used to for administrative purposes because the final will be held at Wembley Stadium, no matter which team makes it there.
Champions League Semi Final Dates
The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be held on 15th March 2024.
The first legs will be played on 9th and 10th April. The second legs will be played on 16th and 17th April 2024.
For the semi-finals, the draw will be held at the same time as the quarters, on the 15th March 2024.
The semi-final first legs will be played on the 30th April and 1st May with the second legs scheduled for the 7th and 8th of May 2024.
Champions League Prize Money
There is actually a staggering amount of money on the table for the Champions League.
The prize money is broken down as follows:
- Play-off round: €5,000,000
- Base fee for group stage: €15,640,000
- Group match victory: €2,800,000
- Group match draw: €900,000
- Round of 16: €9,600,000
- Quarter-finals: €10,600,000
- Semi-finals: €12,500,000
- Runners-up: €15,500,000
- Champions: €20,000,000
So if we take Manchester City winning in 2023 as an example, the club made a minimum €81.7 MILLION as outright winners. And that's just based on the basic prize money for each stage.
Which begs the question – who pays for it all? The answer is that a large part of the revenue is linked to the “market pool”, the distribution of which is determined by the value of the television market in each nation.
For the 2019–20 season, Paris Saint-Germain, who were the runners-up, earned nearly €126.8 million in total, of which €101.3 million was prize money.
However, Bayern Munich, who won the tournament earned €125.46 million of which €112.96 million was prize money.
Champions League Music
The music that is played during the UEFA Champions League football games is the UEFA Champions League Anthem.
It was composed by English composer Tony Britten in 1992. The anthem features a combination of the three official languages of the UEFA: English, French, and German.
The lyrics are based on the Ode to Joy from the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
The UEFA Champions League Anthem is played before each UEFA Champions League match and is widely recognised and associated with the tournament's prestige and excitement.
It has become an iconic piece of music in the world of football.
